1 Kings 18:37

1Ki 18:37 Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou [art] the LORD God, and [that] thou hast turned their heart back again.

Ver. 37. Hear me, O Lord, hear me.] God is distinguished from all false gods by his hearing of prayers. This the prophet well knew, and therefore crieth, "Hear me, Lord, hear me": the people also acknowledge it, {1Ki 18:39} where seeing God’s answer by fire to the prophet’s prayer, they cry out, as fully convinced, "The Lord," and not Baal, "he is God; the Lord, he is God."

And that thou hast turned.] Or, Turn thou their hearts, &c.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

18:37 The call-answer motif appears frequently in the Old Testament, often depicting the petitioner’s intimate relationship to the Lord (Job 14:15; Pss 4:1; 91:15; 102:2; Isa 65:24; Jer 33:3).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Though God suffer his to run in blindness and error for a time, yet at the length he calleth them home to him by some notorious sign and work.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

37. that thou art the Lord God] R.V. that thou Lord art God. This is what Elijah desired, that it should be shewn that to apply the name ‘Elohim’ to Baal, and idols like him, was a folly and a delusion. The heathen, and those who went after them, used this name for the objects of their worship, and Elijah in his mockery had employed their phrase (1Ki_18:27) and said of Baal ‘He is Elohim.’ In the present verse, as in 1Ki_18:39 below, the noun has the article before it, which is shewn by the rendering of the A.V. in 1Ki_18:39 ‘he is the God.’ But such an insertion is needless. If we assert that Jehovah is God, it is implied that there is none else. The R.V. therefore omits the article twice over in 1Ki_18:39, reading he is God.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces,.... In reverence of God, astonished at the miracle wrought, ashamed of themselves and their sins, particularly their idolatry, that they should turn their backs on the true God, and follow idols:

and they said, the Lord, he is the God, the Lord, he is the God; which acknowledgment of God, as the true God, in opposition to Baal, is repeated, to show their firm belief and strong assurance of it.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

That thou hast turned their heart - The hearts of the people were turning. Elijah speaks of them as already turned, anticipating the coming change, and helping it on.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Again. This effect he hoped for from the miracle.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

That thou hast turned their heart; that they may feel so powerful and sudden a change in their hearts, that they may know it is thy work, and the effect of thy grace to them, and in them. Or, when thou hast turned, &c., or, because thou, &c. So the particle vau is oft used; and the sense is, That they may know thee to be the true God, by the effects of thy Divine power, in converting their hearts, and that in so miraculous a way, and in answer to my prayers.

Back again unto thee, from whom they have revolted.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

37. Thou hast turned their heart back again — Back again from idols to thyself. The prophet thus anticipates the results of this contest, and thinks of the people as already reclaimed from their idolatrous practices.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Hear me, O Lord Jehovah, hear me or answer me; same word as in vers. 24, 26, and 29, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God Rather, "that thou, Jehovah, art the God." Same expression as in ver. 24, "let him be the God", and that thou hast turned their heart back again. Cf. Mal_4:5, 6: "He "Elijah the prophet" shall turn the heart of the fathers," etc. He speaks as if the miracle were already wrought (cf., Joh_11:41) and the people already repentant. His prayer is that they may understand that the prodigy about to be performed was wrought for their conversion.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Hast turned - Let them feel so powerful a change in their hearts, that they may know it is thy work. Back again - Unto thee, from whom they have revolted.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Answer me, Adonoy, answer me. Answer me with fire, answer me with rain. So did [Targum] Yonoson render this. But our Rabbis said, “Answer me with fire, (and water) answer me so that they do not say that this deed was accomplished by sorcery.”

[And this people] will know that You are Adonoy. And I am Your servant, and when You will send me to bring them tidings [of the redemption] that is forthcoming, they will believe me, if You will answer me today.

And You have turned their hearts away. You gave them an opportunity to turn away from following You, although You could have directed their hearts toward You. And according to Midrash Aggadah, if You do not answer me, I will deny and say that You turned their hearts. And so did Moshe say, “If as all men die will these men meet their death,” I, too, will deny and say, “then Adonoy has not sent me,” to speak [the words of] the Torah and the commandments, and so did Michoyhu say, “If you really return in peace, Adonoy did not speak to me.”

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.